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A mobile application for business is becoming more and more important to maximize your business potentials. Not only does this attract more customers and broaden your communications with them, mobile apps are also helpful in building an associating with your website, generating extra advertisement and earning, improving your company’s image, making communication easier, and most importantly securing your business. To obtain the best results for your project, choosing a good app developer is very crucial. Here are a few considerations you should keep in mind while selecting app developers.

1. Know their specialties

Sometimes, a design agency that is good at making mobile apps for iPhone and iPad doesn’t have the same capabilities while developing apps for Android-based devices and vice versa. This is due to the fact that the coding characteristics for iOS and Android platforms are different. One app developer may be more familiar with one particular platform. In other cases, a developer may simply want to focus on one of these platforms.

2. Know their experience

Since iOS and Android-based phones and tablet computers have only been on the market for a few years, there is a possibility that you might face difficulties in finding an agency that has been in business for a longtime. However, you should not choose beginners to develop your mobile business app, as you may pay for their process of learning, and it may cost more or take longer to complete the task. Some developers have focused on mobile apps after already developing desktop applications for some time. They can bring a lot of experience to the table.

3. Ask for testimonials and references

If the developer cannot give you a list of testimonials or references from prior clients, look for another one who can do so. Testimonials and references are significant so that you know how well they can handle mobile app projects. Even when they give you their list of former clients, make sure you contact the clients one by one to make sure that the list is the real deal.

4. Ask whether they have a customer warranty

Developing mobile apps is not always easy and sometimes there are glitches or bugs found after the apps are launched. If this situation occurs, you need to make sure that the app developer shows responsibility to fix the bugs. Before agreeing to cooperate with a certain app developer, make sure to read their terms and conditions thoroughly, and ask a lot of questions, especially about follow-up service. A good web developer will answer all your doubts clearly instead of giving you more confusion.

After deciding to go ahead with taking your business to the next level it will be vital that you set your mark or the tone for your business by making your Facebook business page unique. There are several ways to do this, but you always want to make sure that the site is professional and helpful at the same time. Here are five tips to help you make you Facebook business page unique:

1. Popularity Content

The more common way that a Facebook page will make new friends are due to common friends, or friends of interest. There are roughly 150 friends per Facebook page currently, and the majority of these are all going to be connected to one another through common friends of interest.
While there are connections to other social network sites, it is possible to make your Facebook business page unique in connecting this page with other social network sites like Twitter for an example.

2. Fan Yourself Silly

If you are hoping to see all of your friends also become ‘fans’ of your business, this is going to be crucial in your attempts to creating a Facebook business page that is unique and different from your competitors. Offer something special for those friends or customers that do go through and become a fan of your Facebook page. On average other Facebook users only become a ‘fan’ of a page or business twice during a 30 day (or monthly) period.

3. Create a Unique Facebook Business Page

Work on activating the friends you currently have into fans rather than focusing on adding more and more friends. Friends and customers are always great to have, but take care and tend for the ones you have and recruit them from friends to fans. This can be done by creating an overly unique Facebook business page. The average fan site will have 10,000 fans.

4. What You Say Not How Often You Say It

Keep up on your posts and add new blogs, advice or stories in correlation to your business, but keep in mind that it’s not going to be how much you log in and report on your Facebook page, but in order to make your Facebook business page unique you will need to offer unique advice, services and opportunities to clients and future consumers depending on your business or services. Don’t just pitch your products or push the hard sell because this is just the place for it. Remember that Facebook is all about building relationships.

5. Customized News Feed

When you are adding new information it’s important to keep a watchful eye on what kind of information you are going to be putting on your site. The newest addition to Facebook is the ability to customize what kind of news feed is displayed on your page. This will allow you to make your Facebook business page unique and offer you the opportunity to set yourself apart from other businesses services or organizations similar to yours.

What does it mean to be a manager? While the skills to be an effective manager are many and the exact mix of skills necessary will vary from job to job and sector to sector, most writers on business and management agree that successful management involves the planning, organising, leading and controlling of resources, including personnel, to efficiently and effectively achieve organisational aims.

If you do any of these things, then you are a manager, whether or not the word “manager” appears in your official job title. However, many managers, especially ones new in the role, don’t feel well-prepared for the job and consequently, need advice and guidance in how to begin to fulfill their new role in a way that is effective and satisfies the requirements of superiors.

Know that, although there are no absolute measures of managerial effectiveness, nevertheless there is broad agreement that when a manager satisfies the aims and goals of the organisation he or she works for, effectiveness has been achieved. The problem is in defining exactly what these aims and goals are and then laying out a format of standard operating procedures that managers can follow to become more effective in achieving them.

One such way is the KPI, or Key Performance Indicator, a well-known approach where the job requirements of a management role are specified in a list of qualities, skills and outcomes written down on paper, with important ones subdivided into smaller subgoals with a numerical target attached, such as number of units sold, percentage increase achieved or number of times completed in order for the manager’s performance to be deemed satisfactory.

In particular, one of the most famous versions of the KPI solution is the “Management by Objectives” approach of Peter Drucker, the renowned writer on management issues. This is where the aims and goals of the organisation are arranged and presented as “Objectives” that must be fulfilled and then managers are evaluated on how well they contributed to the achievement of those objectives.

The downside to this approach is that it is often very difficult to apply in the real-life workplace. Typically, many problems arise and a whole range of issues complicate the achievement of these objectives, which can sometimes suggest that the idea itself is not all that great. However, the general consensus in business is that it is felt to be a practical construct and a useful description of “how things ought to be done”, even if things do not actually always end up being done exactly as the model describes. So, despite its difficulty in application, Drucker’s Management by Objectives remains an excellent way to envisage the goals of an organisation and create a template of performance for managers to strive for, while also acting as a map that guides the organisation in the achievement of its aims and the development of its future business trajectory.

In addition, Drucker also delineates eight practices that all effective managers follow -

1/ They ask “what needs to be done”

2/ They ask “what is right for the enterprise”

3/ They develop action plans

4/ They take responsibility for decisions

5/ They take responsibility for communicating

6/ They focus on opportunities

7/ They run productive meetings

8/ They think and say “we” rather than “I”

These eight practices of effective managers can be grouped into 3 areas – the first two practices give them the knowledge they need to do their job; the next four allow them to change this knowledge into action; the last two make sure that the whole team or organisation is responsible and accountable (not just the individual manager).

So a commitment by organisations to implement, at least as a broad framework, Drucker’s Management by Objectives and a commitment by managers to perform the eight practices described above will lead to greater movement towards organisational goals and a marked increase in managerial effectiveness.

It seems as manufacturing jobs have migrated to other countries and as retail jobs have been slowing due to online sales that more and more jobs are in the service business. Having participated in this sector during my career as an entrepreneur I noticed the need for consultants and advice. When starting a service business there is much to learn and more often than not, you cannot find it in an MBA class. So what is a start-up service entrepreneur to do, considering they will probably start by working out of their home and going to the client’s home or business to do the work?

Well, I believe we need better Portal Websites for exactly this purpose. If someone were to start an online resource like this, I’d sure be willing to help them out and I am sure other veteran service industry folks would also, think how many people formerly of the mobile service business are on LinkedIn? Maybe they can steer interested people to your Blog, writings or offerings – that is if you were to take up the cause and start such a website? Do you have a Mobile Business Portal website now? Do you run a mobile service business and think you could help others across the nation in your sector?

It seems mobile businesses need a lot of back-office stuff (accounting, scheduling, software, routing, incoming tele-marketing) and franchisors of mobile business models need franchise buyers. People getting out of the military are EXTREMELY SUITED towards mobile businesses being ‘take-action’ types and they follow business plans and business models, manuals and instructions well, making them more successful in Biz Ops, Franchises or start-up mobile businesses with the right set of instructions and network behind them?

Most start-up mobile businesses need help and funding, so a portal website could capitalize on these needs? Is that kind of what you are doing? Personally, I have many business plans for mobile businesses, and there are other places to find marking plans, so maybe all of these should be on one website?

Now then, currently, I am retired and not really promoting anything, although I do believe in mobile enterprises due to cost-structure and ROI, just as I like “Internet Businesses” and online retail, it just makes so much sense to me for so many reasons. I’ve put a lot of thought into this whole ‘mobile business” thing over the years, in hindsight of what I had done, and also with regards to all the experiences and success I’ve had doing it. I’d be happy to pass that information on to the next group of entrepreneurs, and I guarantee you, I am not alone.

It wouldn’t be hard for some smart entrepreneur to build such a resource for the millions of mobile business operators in America. Think on it.